LACMA’s new building is emerging from an open design process and will blend antiquity and modernity in a beautiful experience for visitors, while satisfying present and future needs of the museum’s collections. That’s according to Michael Govan, defending the design by Peter Zumthor.

It was a sunny February day in Los Angeles. The sky was perfectly blue, unmuddled by smog. We were in Leimert Park in South Los Angeles to see a new “People Street.” And we brought our drone.
The People Street program is a partnership initiative between LADOT and local community organizations to transform small stretches of underused streets into pedestrian-friendly plazas or parklets. Leimert Park’s plaza …

News broke this week that the former Cheviot Hills home of the late Ray Bradbury has been torn down to make way for a new home for the property’s new owner, the architect Thom Mayne. While some mourn the loss of the celebrated Sci-fi writer’s creative lair, others see promise in the changes, among them Jonathan R. Eller, Director of the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies and Editor of the …

A calling card for Palm Springs is its trove of modern architecture. Now that passion for design has been enshrined in a new Architecture and Design Center, opening Sunday.
The Architecture and Design Center, short for Palm Springs Art Museum: Architecture and Design Center; Edwards Harris Pavilion, is a satellite of the Palm Springs Art Museum; it is housed in a former bank designed by …

One of the most emotional issues in the City of Santa Monica right now is the fate of its airport. Competing measures, D and LC, on the ballot next Tuesday, aim to shape the future of the almost century-old Santa Monica Airport (SMO), whose settlement agreement between the city and the FAA is set to expire in 2015.
D is intended to preempt efforts to close the airport; …

Frank Gehry recently got caught on camera giving the middle finger to a reporter who asked how he felt about people calling his buildings showy. The blogosphere went crazy, and it was tempting to dismiss the whole thing as just so much sturm und drang in our age of gotcha-on-tape journalism. But it’s unusual for an architect to attract a Bill Maher-level of attention. …

This week we learned that tall buildings in Los Angeles no longer need to have “flat tops,” the rooftop helipads, mandated for fire safety reasons since 1974, that resulted in few helicopter rescues and a downtown of mostly uninspired, stumpy towers. Ending that rule means the shackles are off for developers and designers wanting L.A. to join other world cities in the race to build the shapeliest skyscrapers.
As fashion maven Simon Doonan …

Brought To You By:

KCRW’s Design & Architecture

KCRW’s DnA: Design and Architecture explores who and what matters in our designed world – on air, online and at public events. Host Frances Anderton talks to designers, users and experts about products, fashion, buildings and more, in Los Angeles and beyond –revealing how we shape today’s world and how it shapes us.

Sign up for the DnA Newsletter

Sign up for the DnA newsletter

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Postal Code:

Shop the KCRW Store for DnA Design Picks

A commissioned series of art and design objects by up and coming designers - limited edition, one-of-a-kind, and exclusive items, available to KCRW supporters.